Saving Me
by Little Cherry Tree
Summary: Even when everything had fallen apart and her life had gone to hell, Kara Thrace never quit. Until now. Set in LDYB during the lost year with canon pairs for now.
1. Prologue

**Saving Me**

**Title**: Saving Me

**Genre**: Somewhat AU, with drama, angst, et al.

**Rating**: T, for adult themes and content.

**Teaser**: Even when everything had fallen apart and her life had gone to hell, Kara Thrace never quit. Until now.

**Summary**: Life on New Caprica had never interested her. And yet a year later, Kara Thrace was without the military, which she had counted on the most. This is a look at her life, unbidden, and the choices she made that changed her life.

**Disclaimer**: The new version of Battlestar Galactica is owned by that lovely man, Ronald D. Moore and the entire staff… it's a Sci-Fi channel re-imagined series after all.

**Timeline**: This is likely set between the first and second parts of 'Lay Down Your Burdens' with bits back to the entire show thus far and even to bits before. You'll see what I mean later.

**Notes**: This is not my fandom. This isn't even close. However, this is my husband's favorite show on now so I do get to see it a fair bit as I'm home on Fridays and he isn't. This was written for a friend of mine who has been through _so _much as of late. Her health has been failing because of stress due to her job and to her life. She's stretching herself too thin. That and I was listening to Tom Petty earlier. There is one song of his that really puts all of the meaning into this fic. I don't really have it planned out, but I do intend to continue. I have my own 'ship' preference, but this story begins by following canon pairings. This story is not beta-read. Only if you seriously suggest I need one will I get one. Or if you volunteer. I'd be happy either way. So, Angel, this is for you!

_Thank you for taking the time to read the legal tender. Now onwards with the story!_

x-x-x

**Prologue**

It was yet another cold, rainy day on New Caprica. Even in their tiny tent, she could see the leak on the corner of the tarp, leaking a steady stream of droplets across what Samuel managed to call their bed. He moved at the feeling of the icy rain on his skin and immediately regretted it. The warm body next to his moaned and began to shift and he mentally kicked himself. She needed to sleep, he knew. She hadn't been sleeping very well lately.

"Starbuck?" he asked the shoulder softly. The arm belonging to the shoulder nudged him as she turned onto her stomach, lifting up her sleepy face to meet his.

"Hi."

"Hi," he said, unable to resist touching her. His fingers brushed her blonde hair from her eyes and tucked it behind her ears. "You sleep okay?"

"Just fine." Her eyes belied her words and she knew she was lying through her teeth. He kept his own features masked as she pushed herself into his knees, taking away the warmth of the blanket. She quickly pulled it from his legs and wrapped it around her shoulders. "It's cold."

"It's yet another morning on New Caprica," he yawned, stretching his form out on the cot. She chuckled as she threw his half of the blankets back over his form. "We should get to work."

Kara scoffed as she dropped next to him, her head burying itself into his shoulder. "Work… I've almost forgotten what that's like."

"I bet this beats getting up from the racks every morning and doing whatever it was that you as a CAG did," he said in a teasing voice. Instead of retorting in those smartass comments of hers, she remained silent, something tightening in her face.

"Right," she said, pulling away from him. His hands reached out to catch her by the waist and pull her back.

"I wasn't being serious," he murmured into her ear as she squirmed in his arms. "Kara? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she said through clenched teeth. She flung the blankets off of herself and moved to the small bit of floor they had in their tent. Samuel was then treated to the full military treatment, watching his scantily-clad wife do her pushups in rhythm to the wind and rain beating on their roof.

He sat up and watched her, hiding his concerns for her. Since they had moved to the new planet of supposed glorious dreams two months ago right after their wedding (which she had been careful to hold on Galactica since Pegasus was by far her least favorite place in the fleet right now), she had been sullen and withdrawn. He remembered seeing her on old Caprica and believing he had never seen anyone as beautiful as his Kara Thrace in her Colonial marines uniform and helmet. She had been wearing her CAG dress gear the day he asked her to marry him…

That had seemed so long ago, he thought, watching her grunt her personal count under her breath as she moved from pushups to crunches. Since that time, she had basically shut out everyone she ever cared about. He had watched the complete dissolution of her friendship with Lee Adama. He thought he had felt something there, but that something was gone. He remembered that argument, too. Everything with her in those weeks until he'd convinced her that maybe this ship wasn't the best place for her new attitude had been a struggle.

Like it or not, the Kara Thrace he knew was gone.

"Starbuck?" he asked, backing away as she kicked her legs onto the cot to continue her workout. "Kara?"

"I'm a little busy, Sam," she grunted, continuing to count under her breath as she moved.

He moved off of the bed and reached down to take her hands. She let out a stream of hot breath before raising her angry gaze to his. "Let go."

"No."

"_Please _let go?"

"No," he said, tugging her from her position. "I just think you look good enough the way you are."

Her smile was cold as she looked at him. "But I'll never be good enough, will I Sam?" she asked in that taut voice of hers.

"Come here," he said, reaching down and pulling her into his arms. Even as she fought against him, he had always used this to soothe her jangled nerves. Something was obviously bothering her. "What is it?"

"Nothin'," she replied in her callous voice, smirking up at him. "Did you honestly think that I'd let my body go to waste?"

"Well, not really," he said, tugging on her hair. "I like it this way."

"I do too."

"Then I don't see any problem," he murmured, bringing his face to hers.

x-x-x

Even with his body warm next to hers, Kara Thrace felt cold. She listened to the rain pattering and looked around, trying to find her clothes from the mess of garments on their floor. She reminded herself to be more careful because good, dry clothes were getting hard to come by. Slipping into her pants, she reached for her coat and moved out into the darkness. For as far as the eye could see there were tents stretching to the horizon. The ground was basically tread-over mud that had caked so hard into the ground that not even the hardest rain could wash it away. As she walked through, she could hear people talking behind their cramped little houses. Above them all, she could see a single beacon light standing out from Colonial One.

All at once, she felt like vomiting.

Her footsteps paused and she looked towards a larger tent. People were moving around inside. She could hear the sounds of laughing. She had almost forgotten what it was like to laugh.

"This is just too frakked up," she muttered under her breath. But no matter how she tried to will away everything that had happened these past six months, she just couldn't. She was pretending everything was okay, but for how long? She missed the demanding schedule of being a Viper pilot. Hell, she missed her pilots, even Hot Dog and Kat. She figured they were back on Galactica. That's where she would have been too if not for…

She forced herself to push the thought from her head. She refused to think about that now. Everything was good here. She had Anders. They were married. And though a kid wasn't in the near future, it wasn't out of the question. Maybe the day would come when he would stop playing Pyramid and she would stop working on old spare parts trying to convert them into engines to run the heating system on New Caprica. Still, it was better than an athletic refugee and the Galactica CAG now, wasn't it? This was a step towards retirement. At her age, this was a joke.

But still, it was a future. She saw what the Chief and Cally put together. They had married just weeks before her and Sam. They had put their lives together and were having a kid. Hell, the Chief was even Union President. Cally, his wife, was one of the best godsdamn engineers she had met. Still, with their jobs and their responsibilities, they had a kid coming.

How she envied that sometimes. She knew that Cally wouldn't have a problem being a mom. Cally probably didn't have a mom that slammed her fingers with the top lock of the piano every time she caught her unsuspecting daughter of playing her husband's most treasured possession. But thinking about kids brought back Simon and the stupid Farm and she shuddered, wrapping the coat tighter around herself. Gods, she missed Helo… her sparring partner and one of her closest friends on Galactica. He refused to leave because Sharon was still hurting. Starbuck supposed she missed Sharon, too.

She couldn't even think about Apollo. Just thinking about him made her vent her homicidal rages against some poor unsuspecting architectural nightmare and she wasn't motivated to fix anything else today.

He was likely one of the biggest reasons she had left Galactica, even if he was Commander Adama on Pegasus. Part of the reason was with the old man, Admiral Adama. Part of the reason was because of President Baltar and his supposed dislike of her.

No, things were better this way. She was better this way. She smiled down at the simple ring on her fourth finger. The smile turned bittersweet as she remembered telling the Admiral she was getting married. Colonel Tigh looked like he had had a stroke at her happy news. Dualla had looked like… well, like Dualla. Why shouldn't she share her happy news? It wasn't like Lee had been keeping his relationship with Dee all that private despite the fact he was a Commander and she was still a Petty Officer. Hell, Sam wasn't military. Which made her luckier than Lee and Dee, as their relationship seemed determined to failure by military code alone.

But Laura Roslin was no longer in charge of the Colonies. President Baltar didn't give a flying frak about the military code anymore. He just wanted this godsforsaken settlement and he had gotten it… no matter the cost. Maybe that was another reason why she'd left.

Starbuck just looked at herself as one of the lucky ones. Even though most of her friends were on Galactica, she had Sam. Right now, he was all she needed.

x-x-x

The next chapter goes back to moments after the part just before the schism.


	2. Chapter 1

General disclaimer, author's notes, timeline and storyline description may be seen in the prologue chapter. All reviews have been answered through the site's email response thing. Onto the story…

x-x-x

**Chapter 1**

_Ten Months Earlier_

A lone viper shot across the sky, a brilliant flash of silver on the horizon of New Caprica. Kara smiled darkly as she turned the controls, heading back out towards the ships. Pegasus and Galactica remained like two large beacons of hope. But even as she did the high fly-by, she saw the ships on the surface. So far President Baltar's urgency to get the people of the Colonies onto the planet hadn't fallen through. Many had welcomed leaving the ship to live in a house again without hesitation.

Personally, Starbuck would take life as CAG on Galactica without salivating over living in a house again. Her life on Caprica had taught her that. She was a fighter, a soldier… nothing more.

She had chosen today's patrol flight, allowing her pilots R&R time on the planet's surface. Many were already packing their things for what could be a new beginning. Kara wanted to laugh at their antics and wanted nothing more than to call them silly kids and be done with it. But no. This was their choice.

Speaking of choices…

Instead of heading towards Galactica's flight decks, she turned instead towards the Pegasus deck. She knew the time had come to again drill Stinger, the captain once again promoted once she'd taken Apollo's old job on Galactica, and remind him that he needed to send out Pegasus pilots too. She kept sending her pilots out. She was frankly starting to get a little sick of being taken advantage of. If Stinger wasn't responsible, she would love to get her hands on Apollo.

Well, not literally.

Once landing, she glanced around the empty flight deck as she removed her own gear before hopping on the hard, metal plate. "Hey!" she shouted across the room. A single deck hand turned and acknowledged her. "Where's the rest of the crew?"

"They're on leave," the man replied after giving her a brief salute. "Commander Adama's orders."

"Now why doesn't that surprise me?" Kara muttered under her breath as she stalked past him. "Stinger around?"

"Try his office!" the man shouted to her back.

"Right."

As usual, the CAG office on the Pegasus was empty. She remembered spending her first hours in here. She ran her hand along the solid metal frame and smiled to herself. When she had been here, she had actually respected the Commanding officer. Helena Cain was a lot of things, many bad. But getting that promotion to captain had certainly endeared Kara towards the Admiral. Even though her death was untimely, Kara still missed her whenever she walked the corridors of Pegasus.

"Captain Thrace… can I help you?"

"Captain Taylor," she said unenthusiastically as she turned to face him, her hands on her hips. "Would you mind telling me why my pilots are running all the runs?"

"Would you mind telling me why you're standing in the middle of my office?" he asked calmly, setting aside a stack of papers and staring her up and down.

"So this is how it's gonna be?" Kara asked coolly. "My team runs the CAP and yours get lazy on their asses waiting for us to frak up?"

"Yes," Cole replied, smirking at her icy expression. "That's exactly what I'm waiting for."

"If you don't want to settle it the easy way, I'll take it to the Admiral."

"Because we both know you're Admiral Adama's favorite. Hell, you're Commander Adama's favorite."

An odd shadow passed over Kara's face as she shook her head slightly. "I don't think you have to worry about Commander Adama, Taylor. I'm pretty sure the whole frakking fleet knows we haven't spoken in a month."

"Whose choice was that?" When she didn't answer, he smiled grimly. "Work out your personal problems on your own time, _Captain._ It's time for you to act like one. Instead of running around complaining that my team isn't taking CAP because you insist on running both ships, well… that's your own luck. I'm sure this office isn't big enough for you."

Kara let out a long, slow breath, counting down the seconds before her temper flared dangerously. "Fine. You set up the run and you plan the op. Until then, I'm giving my officers some rack time. If you don't like it, you go complain. I'm done wasting my breath."

She heard Taylor curse at her even as she stormed off. Halfway down the corridor she paused, slamming her hands into the bulkhead in frustration.

She made her way back to the flight deck and her viper. She was about to get into her viper when a familiar voice called her back.

"Lee," she murmured under her breath, moving towards him. He stood there with his hands clasped behind his back.

"For awhile there, I thought you were avoiding my ship."

"I was avoiding more than this ship, sir," Kara replied edgily.

"Yes, well, we can't all have your charm." He smirked as her eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here, Starbuck? This isn't your ship."

"Maybe if you pulled your head out of the frakking stars you could see that I have been overworking my flight team to the point that Pegasus hasn't taken a single flight in weeks," Kara snapped, losing all pretenses to keep her calm. "I've got pilots just dying for a good, long time in the racks and I keep pulling them back because your CAG doesn't know how to do his job."

"He was doing his job perfectly until you replaced him," Lee replied calmly, leaning against one of the later Mark vipers with that glint in his eye. He seemed to be enjoying this particular conversation. "Maybe you shouldn't have left."

"We both know why I did."

"Because you pissed off the Commander and you frakked yourself into that hole," Lee replied.

"That's part of it."

Lee stood straight and stared her in the eye, watching as she continued to glare at him. "What else is there? I mean, you seem to have everything you need on Galactica. You have pilots that respect you. And you have—"

"I also know what I have and don't have," Kara said between clenched teeth. "I lose more people day after day to that stupid dream world out there."

"Well maybe it's good to know that you can't always have what you want," Lee said, moving closer.

"You know, I used to look up to you. I used to trust you, Lee. It used to be your word and my word. I guess things change."

"The more they change, the more they stay the same," he challenged in return. "Same ol' Kara." But she knew his words had held the impact she intended. He broke eye contact and looked away. "Go back to your ship."

She unclenched her jaw and nodded. "Right. Good to see you again, Commander. I'll give your regards to the Admiral."

In another time and in another place, her behavior may have sent her to the brig. But Lee knew better. His eyes darkened as he stared her down. After a long moment, she was the one to look away. "As always, it's been a pleasure, Captain."

Kara waited for the hatch to shut before she muttered, "And you can go straight to hell, Lee."

- - - - -

"You need to relax, Kara. Stressing out about this isn't the way to get your voice heard."

"I'm well aware of that, Karl," Kara snapped as she unwrapped her hand and shook it, admiring the purple splotch on her elbow. It seemed that physically she was unable to keep up with Lieutenant Agathon anymore.

"I guess you're just more of a fight face girl."

"I guess I'm just not a girl," Kara retorted as she pulled her coat back on. Sniffling, she slammed her locker shut to face the man standing with his back to her. "How are you doing?"

She could see his shoulders droop and heard his muffled response. "Fine."

"Don't lie to me, Helo," Kara smirked, turning to pick up her towel and move towards the figure now walking towards the door. "I've known you too long. Tell me."

"How do you want me to answer?" Helo asked. "The woman I love is pulling away from me. We lost the one thing we had together in this world. I feel like I'm losing her."

"Have you talked to Sharon lately?" Kara asked as they reached the corridor.

"Some. She doesn't really talk though. She just lies there and stares. It's…"

Kara grimaced at the thought. "Yeah, I get it. You're in love. It's hard to fall out of it."

"Don't I know it," Helo grumbled as he headed down a different corridor.

Kara took a moment to collect her thoughts before continuing on. "You're not the only one," she admitted to no one as she moved in the opposite direction.

Sam was waiting for her in the flight officer's mess. The room was dark as most of her pilots were sleeping now. He was sitting at a table in the darkest corner with a bottle and two glasses set out. "It's about time," he said, glancing easily at the figure walking towards him. "I thought you'd be back hours ago."

"I was held up," she murmured as she dropped in the seat next to him. His arms went around her waist, pulling her suggestively into his lap. She heard her own throaty chuckle as his lips traced her jawbone. Her fingers moved up his neck, flickered into his hair.

"Mmm," he said quietly as she pulled back.

"What?" she asked, moving her legs to better sit. His hands moved to her waist and pulled her flush to him. "Not good enough for you?"

"No," he replied, his fingers gently pushing her hair from her eyes. "You look perfect to me."

She laughed as she bent down to kiss him. But even her laughter sounded hollow as he held her. In her mind, uncertainties were beginning to emerge. Things, in her mind, would never be the same.

- - - - -

Even as he moved through the darkened corridors of Pegasus, Lee Adama's mind was elsewhere. He heard his CAG complaining about Kara rather harshly. He heard on a daily basis why their pilots could never stack up to the miracle from Galactica. Wherever he walked on this ship, it came back to the same person he was trying with great difficulty to forget about. Everything had changed the day he had found Kara and Samuel together. For months she was hung up on him. Now she finally had him.

He couldn't really blame her, though. Despite any feelings he had towards her, she had basically forced him to forget with her actions. If she wanted a drunken moron to fawn over her every flaw and inadequacy, Anders was welcome to have her.

But part of his mind was still lost on the whole needing to forget thing.

Until he reached his quarters and pushed the door open.

"You're late."

Lee turned towards his bed behind his wardrobe. A single figure was lounging on her back, his blankets barely covering her backside as she smirked up at him. "You're here," he said, setting his folders aside.

Dualla laughed as she rolled onto her stomach, tipping her face to him. "Where'd you think I'd be?" she asked sweetly. "I told you I'd be here. I don't break my promises."

Lee tried not to wince as he heard Kara accusing him of breaking his word to her in his mind. "I know… I mean, I remember you saying that."

Dualla pulled him down next to her. "You all right?"

"I'm fine," he said as she wrapped her arms around him. "Just… bad day."

"We all have some of those," she said as she kissed him lightly. "I missed you."

It was nice to know someone cared about him this way, he thought to himself. He needed to feel like this. He needed to feel like a man, like someone who was cared for and adored by someone else. He once thought that Kara would be the one. Now he was almost glad she wasn't. Almost.

"Come here," Dee said, pulling him on top of her. Chuckling slightly, he gave himself over to her.

- - - - -

"Captain, you awake?"

Kara started awake, turning her head to the single figure standing just inside the doorway. "Yes?" she asked sleepily, rolling onto her side.

"XO's been trying to call you. He wants you in his office now."

"Right," Starbuck said, shooing the officer away before turning onto her back and sighing. "Frak me."

A warm male arm moved over her bare abdomen and began stroking her exposed hip lightly. "Too late, already happened," Samuel murmured, nuzzling her neck.

"Sam," Kara muttered as she felt his hand move lower. Her eyes widened at what he was trying to do and she quickly pushed his hand away. "Samuel!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said, pulling back and holding his hands up in mock surrender. "You better go see your XO."

She turned and kissed him quickly. "Be back soon."

Minutes later, she strolled to Tigh's office and knocked on the door. When he called her in, he was surprised to see a brisk salute. "You wanted to see me, Colonel?" she asked.

"Just talked to the Pegasus XO," Colonel Tigh said, fixing the collar on his uniform. "They said they would take the runs today. You and your pilots should get some rack time. Maybe a bit of relaxation could go a long way."

"I didn't know the Pegasus CAG would actually listen to my request," Kara said, slightly surprised at this news.

"According to him, the order came from the old man's son."

Kara blinked as she took this news in. "Thanks, Colonel. I'll spread the word to our pilots."

"But don't get complacent, Captain," Tigh warned her with that patented look. "I want our Vipers back in the air."

"Yes, sir," Kara replied. "Can I be dismissed now?"

"You're dismissed Captain. Go get some rest."

"Thank you, sir," Kara said, turning on her heel and walking straight from the Colonel's office.

It seemed to her that Lee Adama didn't care about what happened on Galactica anymore. He had his own problems to worry about on Pegasus. But for some reason, he had listened yesterday. Maybe he wasn't completely lost to her yet. She always got what she wanted… but sometimes she had to pay the price for it.

- - - - -

**Author's Note**: This is a rare mid-week update for me. I wanted to get this out before the weekend so I could work on my other projects. Thanks to those of you who have been giving _Saving Me_ a chance. I didn't want this story to be particularly shippy but now I think you can see which ship in particular I love more than others. For now, however, the show's ships will stand in this story. I do accept constructive criticism. This isn't my genre, so I can take it. Hopefully you're beginning to see where I'm going with this one. Thank you again for your critiques and reviews.


	3. Chapter 2

General disclaimer, author's notes, timeline and storyline description may be seen in the prologue chapter. All reviews have been answered through the site's email response thing. Onto the story…

x-x-x

**Chapter 2**

"Can I help you, sir?"

Commander Lee Adama turned and cleared his throat, seeing one of the new Galactica pilots behind him. Lords, he could barely keep up with his own staff. It seems that ever since the exodus began, new faces started filling in. This young woman was nothing different. "I'm looking for Captain Thrace."

The young woman bit her lip and looked down. "I'm… I'm not sure if I should be the one to tell you this, sir," she stammered, unable to make eye contact.

"Out with it," Lee challenged her, tapping his foot impatiently.

The woman seemed to steel herself, set her shoulders and looked him in the eye. "She's not onboard Galactica, sir."

Lee frowned as he regarded her. "Where is Captain Thrace? She's not on this ship, she's not on the Pegasus. She's not in the air, not if Kat is running CAP—" His voice trailed off as something seemed to click in his head. "Is she on New Caprica?"

"To be honest with you, sir, I don't know," the woman said. "The only person she told was the Admiral."

"Figures," Lee muttered under his breath. "Could you tell the Admiral that the Pegasus Commander was looking for him?"

"I would, sir, but Admiral Adama is not on board."

Now this was getting ridiculous. "Would you care to enlighten me—"

The woman cut him off before he could continue. "I wish I could tell you, sir, but I don't know."

Her groveling attitude was starting to wear thin now, too. He just rolled his eyes and stormed on, trying to find someone who did know what the frak was going on. He almost sighed with relief when he saw Lieutenant Agathon walking in his direction. The moment Agathon saw him, though; he turned on his heel and marched the other way. Lee found his footsteps faltering as he stared after the Lieutenant, absolutely flummoxed as to what was going on. He found his confusion easing as he realized what was going on. Starbuck was doing something. She was doing something that involved his father. And as Agathon was one of her friends, he was avoiding him for that very reason. Grinding his teeth together, Lee stomped down the corridor. He'd drag it out of Tigh if he had to.

Most of CIC was quiet save a few familiar faces. Despite being appointed as the newest aide to President Baltar, Felix Gaeta was at his post talking on his headphone, looking concerned. The post usually occupied by Dee was empty as she was now on Pegasus. Lee had to hide a smug smile at that; Dee was a fine catch from the Galactica and he was proud to have promoted her and given her a position worth something. He knew his father respected Dualla, but not nearly as much as Lee had.

But where was everyone?

"Lieutenant," Lee said, moving to Gaeta and tapping the younger man on the shoulder. Gaeta ended his call and turned to the Commander. "Where is—"

"Admiral Adama is not on board, sir," Gaeta said, setting the headphones aside. "Colonel Tigh is down at flight deck if—"

"Thanks," Lee said, patting Gaeta's shoulder and making his way through CIC and down to flight deck. Even the flight deck was empty. Tigh was nowhere to be seen. All he could see was—

"Oh, frak!" Lee moaned, putting a hand up to cover his eyes as two figures broke apart, laughing. "For gods sakes, you two… get a room!"

"Sorry, Commander," Cally said with a slight giggle, quickly snapping a salute. The Chief was slightly flushed as he stared hard at his toes. "We were just—"

"Cally," the Chief said, his voice a bit higher than normal, "he doesn't want to know. Just leave him out of this."

"Yes, please," Lee said, trying desperately to hide the disgust on his face. "I'm trying to find Starbuck."

Cally and Chief Tyrol exchanged a nervous look. "She… she has the day off, sir."

"That much I could figure out on my own," Lee said patiently. "I'm just trying to find her, trying to run some ideas by her… but I can't find her. I can't reach her on wireless, can't reach her by anyone else because apparently the only person she told was the Admiral."

"We know nothing," the Chief said, looking Lee in the eye. "All we know is she took off in a raptor yesterday and hasn't been seen since."

"And not one of those raptors going down to the planet either, sir," Cally added. "She was going somewhere else in the fleet."

"Was my father with her?"

"Yes, sir," the Chief said.

"And…" Lee prompted softly.

"There was a civilian with her, too," Cally replied. "I'm pretty sure you're no dimwit, Commander."

So Starbuck had hopped a raptor with her precious civilian Sam and Lee's old man… it didn't make a lot of sense except for one reason. Lee found something clench painfully in his stomach as he turned away. As much as he wanted to deny it, the past few weeks had been hard. He and Starbuck talked, sure. They talked CAP routes, schedules, training essentials, the new Viper modifications… anything but the personals. He knew that she and Sam were close, though. But he hoped – no, prayed – that they weren't out eloping. That would be like a dagger to the back. Or the heart.

"Sir?"

Lee took a deep breath and forced a smile. "I'm sorry, guys. You can get back to—" He waved his hand helplessly and walked away. His eyes sought out Colonel Tigh. He finally found the Colonel by an old Viper examining something on a board. The Colonel turned to face him, looking somewhat unsurprised to see him.

"Commander Adama, to what do we owe this honor?"

It would probably be best to leave Starbuck out of this, he thought, as she was a sore subject for them both. "I'm looking for my father."

Tigh eyed him for a moment before turning back to the board. "He's not on board."

"You gonna tell me where he is?" Lee asked.

"To be frank, I don't know," Tigh replied evenly.

"This is my father you're talking about."

"If you must know, he took off early yesterday," Tigh said, setting the board aside and turning to face Lee. "He had Kara and some others with him. They hopped a raptor and headed to one of the ships orbiting New Caprica. As far as I know, they're all coming back."

As Tigh moved back towards the steps back to CIC, Lee sighed and leant against the Viper, his hand smacking the hull in frustration. Is that where the past three months had brought them, to this point?

"Can we do anything for you, sir?" Cally asked him softly, approaching him from behind.

Lee scoffed as he pushed himself off. "When my father gets back, could you have him call me?"

"And Starbuck?"

Lee paused, emotions crossing his face. "I've got nothing left to say to her."

- - -

"Will you stop fidgeting?"

"No," Kara said, moving her arm which was twisted uncomfortably by someone pushing pins into her sleeve. "Whoever thought of wearing one of these things anyway? I feel like I'm in a burial shroud."

"Maybe you are," Sharon said with a laugh as she attempted to pin Kara's other sleeve. "But it's not everyday we get to a live funeral."

"Funny," Kara snorted as she was pushed to the wall.

"I don't think I've ever seen you out of uniform," a masculine voice chided. Sharon chortled and turned to see Helo's form standing in the doorway.

"Hey, get out. This is a private area."

"Well, we've got one former Buccaneer crawling the walls waiting for his princess to arrive." His smirk grew when he saw Kara and her attire. The smirk soon turned into laughter.

"Shut up!" Kara said weakly, staring down at her reflection. "This is only the second time I've dressed up since I've been on this ship and they've both been within two years." Kara frowned as she picked at her dress. "But Sam wanted—"

"We know, Starbuck," Sharon said, touching her arm. "And I appreciate you asking us here."

"We both do," Helo said, entering the room. "This is your big happy day."

"I know most little girls probably dream about this big day," Kara replied, running her hands through her hair, "but I used to dream about how my dad would ditch my mother and shack up with the soprano from the Virgon Opera."

"Oh, she had a voice," Helo said, smiling fondly.

"With her voice and my dad's piano…" Kara sighed, turning her attention to her friends. "Do I pass inspection?"

"If you were on duty, you'd be shot," Helo smirked. "But you look… beautiful."

Kara looked up, her eyes softening despite the mocking look on her face. "Did you just say I'm beautiful?" she teased. "Did Karl Agathon, lover of one Sharon Valerii just call me beautiful?"

"I was just about to say the same thing," Sharon whispered, blinking tears back. "You look great."

"You're both freaks," Kara ragged. Helo just rolled his eyes as he took Kara by the shoulders and marched her into a second room.

Kara had one wish for this day. She knew that there were small temples scattered on ships throughout the fleet. But she had her favorite. If she were ever to get married, she would have wanted it to be in one of these. The soft golden glow by a hundred candles set a warm, comforting feel over the cramped quarters. Large, like-like statues of the gods surrounded them. There was a single pillar atop which a thick candle burned. Standing behind it was a single figure that turned and looked at her. His look turned to shock as he moved towards her.

"I never thought this day would come," Admiral Adama said, attempting to keep the emotion from his voice. This was Kara… she was almost his daughter-in-law. There were some days when he would look at his living son and his former prospect and realize that someday she could be his daughter-in-law. But that time had passed as he knew the bridges between Lee and Kara were burnt and ash by this point. That didn't stop him from loving her. He had loved her since the day they met at Zak's funeral. So proud, so arrogant, so talented… and so vulnerable. Even now, he could see the tears in her eyes as she smiled up at him. "Even though it's not what I expected, I have never been more proud of you to take this step. I can only wish you all the best."

Kara's smile grew misty and she blinked uncertainly, as though trying to figure out where the tears came from. "Thank you," she murmured.

Bill Adama cleared his throat and stepped away from the young woman who was soon joined by her fiancée. "Now… the book please?"

The former president rose and handed him the book. Her eyes grew soft and watery as she looked at the future of the human race. A man and a woman, deeply in love, deeply entwined by the destiny they were about to face. Despite the fact she had moved to Galactica, her soul was taking her down to New Caprica along with others, including the Chief and his newly pregnant wife, Cally. This was her last order of business, a favor asked to her by Bill Adama. Though he wasn't quite in agreement with her choice to move, he wasn't about to convince her to stay. That had never really worked well for them in the past.

Her eyes searched out the other few that were in the room, illuminated by candlelight. There was Lieutenant Agathon and, to her surprise, the Cylon Sharon. She knew though that Kara Thrace was friends with both and it made sense that they were here. She was just shocked to see Sharon on another ship besides the Galactica.

"We are gathered before the eyes of our gods today in the hopes of adjoining these two mere mortals in their eyes and in their hearts…"

- - -

"Kara… Kara?"

Starbuck blinked and glanced up, losing her train of thought. She had been thinking of nothing but duty rosters and assignments since they boarded the raptor to head back. Galactica was gleaming outside the tiny window and she sighed, turning her attention to her husband.

Whoa… husband? She was going to have to get used to this.

"Yes?" she asked kindly.

"You just seemed like you weren't all there."

"No," Kara smiled. "I'm here. See?" She repositioned herself so that she was on his lap. "I'm here, too." Her lips found the least stubby part of his face. "I'm here. I'm all here. And I'm all yours."

His hand reached down to hers as he examined the ring. "Where did you find these?"

"They were a gift," she smirked as she leaned back in his arms, enjoying the play of light across her ring.

"And to thank you for that gift, I have an idea for one of our own."

Kara glanced at him suspiciously. "Like what, Sam?"

"Nothing too painful," Sam said, laughing at the expression on her face. "Really, Kara. I just thought a symbol of our love and devotion would be good enough."

"More than this?" Kara asked, holding up her hand with the flashing ring.

"Have you ever considered a tattoo?"

"You're kidding, right?" Kara asked, smirking slightly now.

"No, I'm not kidding. I really think we should consider it. See, we can lose these," he said, touching his own ring thoughtfully. "But when we ink the skin, it's hard to lose that."

"I know what I feel Sam… loving you isn't just loving this gold or ink or whatever I can put on myself to show you how I feel. I love you and that doesn't change, even if we lose the rings or get inked."

"This ring isn't just a piece of metal, Kara. It means something." Sam leaned forward and took her hands in his. "It's a symbol of undying devotion and the sacrifice of self to the good of us both, remember? We need to have something that reminds us of who we are… sometimes thoughts aren't enough. Symbols can mean more to us than love itself. They remind us that there is something we can look at and something that we can touch that show us who we are."

Kara thought for a moment on his words before nodding. "All right. Let's do it."

"Are you sure?"

"Are you always going to question my word?" she smirked.

"I shouldn't."

"That's right, you shouldn't," Kara said, leaning forward, her smirk growing. But when she saw the look on his face, her smirk faded. "You have something else to say."

"Can't surprise you anymore, can I?"

"You probably could if you said the right thing—"

"I think we should leave Galactica."

"You can still surprise me," she deadpanned.

"I know you've been frustrated with the military for a while now since the exodus to New Caprica began," Sam began. "And it isn't that you don't love what you do. You wouldn't have come back for me if you weren't great at what you do. But what you do and what will happen are two very different things now. There hasn't been sight of Cylons in months. For all we know, we may never see them again. You're a talented, beautiful young woman," he continued, leaning closer to her. He saw the beginnings of her pout and thought quickly about dispelling it. "But your talents are going to waste. They don't need a Viper pilot."

"Are you saying I should just give up?"

"Instead of fighting day after day with Pegasus and your own air squad? It's not giving up, Kara. It's taking a break."

"So you're saying I should retire because I'm obsolete?"

Sam sighed deeply. "You're not obsolete Kara. You're just…"

"Archaic," Kara remarked heavily. "I'm out of date, outdated, stale… I know my skills aren't very useful right now but in the next moment—"

"Look, a lot of Colonial officers have moved down to the planet. You heard the former President talking about starting up a school there. You heard the Chief was going down because he had been elected to serve in the worker's union. There is still a chance for us down there. Don't you see it?"

"I see it fine," Kara said stubbornly. "The point is, I'm fine with what I have here."

"But it isn't just you anymore," Sam reminded her. "There's two of us now. And while playing Pyramid seems impossible whether on the ship or on New Caprica… if we hadn't done this, if we hadn't… gotten married…" His lips twitched at the sight of her amusement. "I would have gone down there a long time ago. But I was waiting for something… someone… a lot more important to make that decision."

Kara eyed him for a moment before shrugging. "I'll think about it."

"I know it's a big step to take, Kara… but this is our future. This is us, for better or worse. In the eyes of the gods, they want the best future for us. And I'm thinking about that… what's best for us."

"I can't believe you sprung this one on me as we're flying back from our own ceremony," Kara sighed.

"I didn't spring anything on you," Sam argued. "I've been talking about this for months and you just brushed it off."

"So you're telling me not to brush this off?" Kara asked. "You're asking me to be serious?"

"Yes."

"Right," she sighed. "I'll think about it. You have my word. And as you're alive here today, you know my word means something."

x-x-x

_Author's Note_: I realize that my timeline for things may be a bit off, but I'm going by what I feel is right. Considering that the new season has probably shocked a lot of fans into thinking 'what the hell just happened?', I'm just doing my best to catch up. Originally, my story wasn't going to be planned for much more than the end of the prologue, but now I have to take events from the beginning of the season into account. I think I found myself a converted fan.

Oh, and as you lovelies have all written such great stories, could you be kind as to recommend some to me? I know some of you fell in love with the genre just by reading and I'm looking for that chance, too. An email is easy enough, right? I like happy stories, dramatic stories and, of course, shipper stories. But really… I would love some recommendations. Please?

Thank you for reading my story!


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